There are many reasons dogs can become underweight. The most common reasons include medical conditions, intestinal parasites, very high metabolism and recent illness. An underweight dog can be just as unhealthy as an overweight one, so it is important to find the happy medium in between. Ideally you should be able to feel your dog's ribs but you should not be able to see them. There should also be a distinct waist (also known as a "tuck") visible on the dog. Optimum physical condition also means the dog has a good amount of muscle and fat in conjunction with the number on the scale. It is important to determine the cause of the weight issue before you try anything, since there are many medical issues that cause weight loss. Intestinal worms, digestive disorders, intestinal obstruction and kidney failure are just a few of the problems that could be behind your dog's lack of substance. Check with your veterinarian and get your dog a clean bill of health before you turn to supplementing their diet. The first method is to increase the amount of food they are getting in a day. For raw feeders, add more muscle meat to help put on the pounds or increase the overall percentage you feed. For dogs eating a commercial kibble diet, add an extra half cup or full cup as a mid-day snack. For dogs on a homemade diet, increase the amount of carbs and protein. Be wary of overfeeding in one meal, avoid bloat by feeding extras as a mid day snack right before your dog has an afternoon nap. Since you may be increasing the volume of food your dog is eating, it is important to remember never to feed your dog one hour before and one hour after exercise, this will prevent bloat and life-threatening gastric torsion.

Full fat cottage cheese is an excellent way to add more calories to your dog's diet, plus it is full of probiotics and calcium! It tastes great and makes the perfect topper for any kind of diet. A tablespoon or two will do, and you should consider adding fruits or vegetables to the cottage cheese for a boost in nutrition; You can learn about which fruits and veggies are perfect for dogs with my article: Superfoods for dogs! You can also switch up the cottage cheese with high fat plain yoghurt. Another option is to add one whole raw egg to your dog's food bowl, this high protein addition is sure to help pack on some weight. More things to add to your dog's food bowl include sweet potato, pumpkin, apples (without seeds or the core), green beans and raw green tripe. Raw green tripe is an excellent addition to a skinny dog's diet for a variety of reasons, read my article on the benefits of raw green tripe here! For kibble fed dogs, try adding a higher fat and higher calorie canned food to each meal. A couple tablespoons to half a can should be sufficient for adding extra calories to a meal. Look for high quality canned foods such as Merrick, Wellness, Go! or Homestyle.

Lastly, providing healthy treats and snacks is a good way to add extra calories to your dog's diet. Make sure you do not go overboard with the treats, since that is an easy way to jump to the other side of the weight spectrum. Read my article on choosing healthy treats for more information.

More food means more calories, but make sure to provide a high protein, whole food diet as the foundation to health and vitality. Nutrition plays a major role in physical condition, and you can also incorporate a good exercise routine to help maintain proper weight.

My 2 gsds love green tripe and yes, it is sooo smelly! I must try to remember to wear gloves when I serve it up!

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Linda Oettli

10/13/2017 05:32:57 pm

My labradoodle had a stroke November of 2016. She turned 13 last month (9-19-17) She has lost alot of weight and I would like to supplement her diet with healthy things that will help her gain muscle weight. She still enjoys her walks but is becoming very picky about what she will eat. :( partly my fault because a supplement her kibble with meat. She will eat the meat but not the kibble anymore.. Any ideas?

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yesenia

10/24/2017 10:21:19 am

Try bully max mirac ke get all natural weight gainer

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Kelly

12/21/2017 05:16:12 am

Please consult your vet first. My Maltese lost 25% of her body weight. Blood testing revealed her pancreas doesn't produce enzymes to break down her food. So... it's in one end, out the other, not absorbing nutrition between. It wouldn't matter how much I feed her, the condition has to be treated. Just started her on powdered enzymes additive to her current food.

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Tessa

5/1/2019 04:12:40 pm

Hi Kelly, I am struggling to help our dalmatian with ileus gain weight but he's on a low fat diet. I am thinking pancreatitis or similar as signs that he isn't really absorbing nutrients properly. Currently on metoclopramide for nausea and an almost liquid diet. Currently trying enzymes, how are you and your pooch getting on with these please? Btw, he is seeing vet regularly and has reached 4k max on insurance already this year. If anyone has any advice on how to help our Riley gain weight, remembering that he is on low fat, liquid and low purine diet. Any help gratefully received. Thanks all x

Little Fish

5/17/2018 04:19:38 pm

I recommend boiling chicken then using the broth only on your pets regular kibble. The kibble will soak up the broth and teach the dog to go back to this type of food.

Reply

Tonie Bonilla

12/14/2017 06:22:51 pm

I have a standard poodle, male, neutered, almost 2 yr old. Vet says ok but he is like a little female. It bothers me that he is only 40lbs. Very high and fast body. Would probiotics help? I feed him lamb and kibbles, per vet. Any other suggestions?

I raise Standard Poodles. They are not heavy dogs.. Mostly legs and hair

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Angela Thompson

7/27/2018 09:53:50 am

I have a standard poodle 13 months old weighs 24.4 but he's really skinny at back end area I'm trying to bulk him out been told to have him castrated but I'm nervous of getting that done he's very tall long legs

Having your pet with average weight may be less chance of any diseases attack to them. If you find your pet is gradually decreasing its weight be sure they may be suffering from any intestinal parasites which may fall them in server health problem in future. Consulting with a good veterinarian may help you to determine the cause of the weight issue and do treatment according to that.

Good article http://www.dognation.in/2018/03/how-to-increase-weight-of-your-dog.html?m=1

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Jocelyn

3/21/2018 06:04:49 pm

Hi- my dog has kidney disease and eats a can in half a day- however he is still losing weight. Use to be 12 pounds now is down to 9.8.
The vets have told me since his weight went down to feed him anything rt now and to get a lot of calories in him.
He will eat so that’s not the problem/ it’s keeping the weight on.
His kidneys are working against it.
What do you recommend for adding calories to a dog who was needs it?
Thanks!!!

Reply

Michael

4/20/2018 05:04:34 pm

Try Milk Thistle - you can also use human grade also. A total of 200 MG divided 3 times a day into smaller doses will help the kidneys and liver. It worked for my small dog. You can use it up to 3 weeks than stop for 2 weeks and continue again. It is very safe. Look it up on the Internet don't just take my word. Do your research. It should help your dog.

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Amanda

5/15/2018 01:58:13 pm

My bull dog whom is a gentle giant was bit by a really big rattle snake. After being in the hospital for a few days and receiving tons of meds and fluids he lived.. We feel very happy and blessed. However during this time he couldn’t eat because his head literally swelled to about the equivalent size to a basketball. (No lie). The IV is what fed him for several days. He lost a lot of weight and now looks very malnutritioned.. We are feeding him puppy food with a high protein and we basically have been giving him anything he wants because we want his weight up. I don’t want to hurt him by doing this so could you suggest the absolute best thing to add to his food to get his weight up quicker...????...He does have a constant food source at this moment. This incident is fresh and I realize it’s going to take some time. But if you know a really quick trick please let me know. Thank you.

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Rene Breivik

7/5/2018 08:44:26 pm

My 4 yr old GSD is allergic to almost every animal protein! For the last few years we have been going in these cycles where I make all her food, but then she loses weight and we have to pit her back on high calorie dog food and attempt to find a protein she hasn't had a reaction to. She just started having a reaction to the last dog food we can try, it has 6 ingrediants! She has itching and sores around her mouth, enflamed anus, and bloody diarrhea from the gastric inflammation. I have had her on a home cooked diet for about a week and she is doing great. I am willing to cook her meals for the rest of her life... except how she is down 5 pounds and I can see her hips. She is very active, very much still in puppy mode, plus shes a GSD. I have been adding full fat yogurt and a scoop of peanut butter to her meals and giving her pumpkin treats in between meals. I am at such a loss, any ideas are welcome!

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cindi pere

7/9/2018 02:22:37 pm

The vet kept telling me my dog was allergic to protein and and I tried every expensive can food out there and after two weeks she was sick again. even the prescription food made her sick. I got some home made dog recipes using free range meat and good fruits and veggies and she has;'t been sick anymore. I read that they maybe using animals put to sleep in the dog food and phenabarbitol was found in a lot of the food which is what they use to put animals to sleep. The vomiting and upset stomach is what phenabarb does. So now shes healthy again but needs to gain weight and she has a long standing bacterial or viral infection we are trying to get rid of with antibiotics due to long illness on can food and weight loss. I'm fighting to save her life now and make her better. These dog foods are making our pets sick. my daughters two year old dog has arthritis already. Get a good dog recipe cook book and save your pet. Best to you. .

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Rene Breivik

7/23/2018 02:20:04 pm

My dog turned out to have EPI. Sounds similar to your dog's situation??

Rene Breivik

7/23/2018 02:19:22 pm

Thank you everyone for the feedback. But, turns out it wasnt allergies at all. She was diagnosed with EPI this week. She wasnt making the enzyme that allowed her to break down protein and had literally been starving to death. Since we started treatment 6 days ago, shes had no vomiting or diarrhea she has gained 2 pounds!!!

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Michelle

1/20/2019 08:31:20 pm

Commercial dog food is complete crap I wasted thousands of dollars on high end and so called vet approved foods and nothing worked for mine until I started cooking my own. 9 days of food.
10lbs meat (chicken, turkey, fish)
2-3 lbs orgin meats (use this is ever other batch)
20 cups cooked brown rice
6 lbs sweet potatoes
3 lbs carrots
36 eggs scrambled with the shell
12 apples peeled and cored or 1.5 lbs frozen blueberries
Feed 3 cups in the am and pm
You’ll also want to get a omega 3 supplement and some people want pro biotics as well like Dino vite

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Anna Cavness

7/23/2018 01:47:56 pm

How much sweet potato or canned pumpkin is ok to give my German shepherd per day? he is about 50 to 60 pounds but he has mega esophagus its difficult when feeding to be sure he holds it down which makes it difficult to hold on the weight.

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Donnette Cowgill

1/29/2019 12:12:22 pm

My raw-fed dog is losing weight. She has great creatinine numbers but high BUN, so vet wants me to increase calories while trying not to increase protein. Help.

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K9 Instinct

1/29/2019 06:50:03 pm

Healthy fats like coconut oil, olive oil, grass fed butter...

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Phillip Allen

7/29/2019 04:17:04 am

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